1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to protection components and more particularly to bidirectional protection components, that is, components capable of absorbing negative overcharges as well as positive overcharges, such as a bidirectional Shockley diode or gateless triac.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Bidirectional Shockley diodes exhibit the same breakover voltage VBO in each polarity. When the voltage between their terminals exceeds this breakover voltage, the components become conductive and exhibit at their terminals a very low voltage drop. Then, they remain conductive as long as the current flowing therethrough remains higher than a hold current value IH.
Another major characteristic of these components is the power or the maximum current they can withstand during an overcharge. It is known that this current depends upon the component's surface.